It took the team a little over thirteen hours to get from Wichita to Milwaukee, and it is a trip that they will make twice more before the year is over. During those thirteen hours on the bus the guys slept, listened to music, scanned the internet, but mostly they either watched game film or the two MISL matches that were happening that day. They game-planned all week for the attack heavy Milwaukee Wave and didn’t stop their preparation until the kick-off whistle blew. The squad knew that conceding position on the field and packing in the defensive end with light pressure to the midway line would force the Wave attack to dissect the Wings D with creativeness and organization. Overall this strategy worked as the Wings held the Defending MISL champs to only 5 points in the first half as we went into the locker room with our largest lead of the year. The 9-5 tally was an encouraging score line going into the break. Encouraging it might have been but frail is the most appropriate word to describe the Wing’s short-lived lead. It took the Wave little time to regain the lead after scoring four unanswered goals in just over six and a half minutes. With the lead lost and the momentum with the home side the Wings looked to be in a bit of trouble.
While the Wave looked to be on their way to extending their lead the Wings fought back as Victor Quiroz sent a beautifully weighted lofted ball down field to a streaking Chris Lemons who did well to fight off a defender and loop a shot over Wave keeper Marcel Feenstra. Wichita looked to be in serious danger again when Kevin Ten Eyke was shown blue for tripping with three minutes to play in the third. A broken power play right after a goal was sure to shift some momentum towards Wichita for the fourth period, despite being down two points. Ten Eyke’s penalty turned out to be a blessing in disguise. The Wings broke the Wave power play and as Ten Eyke returned to the pitch he found Jamar Beasley in need of some assistance on a one on one break. Kevin swiftly exited the penalty box and six seconds later slotted home a left footed shot underneath Feenstra to equalize for the Wings. So on to the fourth the two sides went, drawn at thirteen a piece.
The fourth was littered with a foul here and there but really nothing in it until Greg Howes scored the winner with under three to play. Howes is a former 3-time MISL MVP and the Wave captain. The Wings played the rest of the fourth with Quiroz as a sixth attacker and Sanaldo watching from the bench. They had a few chances and an extremely rare chance to equalize as Jonatan Santos handled the ball to receive his second blue and eventual red card ejection. The Wings had the last 1:10 to play 6 on 4 against the Wave defense. Some good time consuming defense resulted in the final buzzer being heard without a Wings tying goal. It was another heartbreaker for the boys.
Like their home opener there was many positives to take away from this game. Their defensive aspect of the team looked improved, even after losing Daniel Villegas to a knee injury for 4-6 weeks and Tijani Ayegbusi picking up an injury in the second period that kept him out for the rest of the game. Once again the Wings looked potent in their attacking third. Mulai looks like he will be a great signing for the club as he scored twice more, and Kevin Ten Eyke had his best game yet as he added a three and two point goal. The trip overall was disappointing due to the loss. No matter how badly we want the guys to succeed and how badly they themselves want to succeed, any expansion team takes time. Just feel lucky we are not the Norfolk SharX who look to be in serious trouble as they only suited 12 players for their home opener. I promise you Wings fans, they are almost there. Despite their 0-3 start they will do well this year and be right in the mix for a playoff spot.
No comments:
Post a Comment